1. Relevant Field
The present disclosure relates to dispensing oral medications. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system, method, and apparatus for dispensing oral medications.
2. Description of Related Art
Medications are taken for many different reasons, such as to treat an illness, relieve pain, keep biological parameters within low risk ranges (e.g., blood pressure), nutritional supplementation, and other reasons. The medication may be taken for a short period of time or for life. For example, a person with an ear infection may get a prescription for a certain medication to take for a week. Other times the medication is taken for a long period of time, possibly forever. For example, a person with high blood pressure may take a certain medication all the time. People taking medication for a long period of time may receive a prescription for a certain quantity of the medication given to the patient by a pharmacists or physician with possibly one or more refills. After the prescription expires (e.g., all refills are used) the person, or someone caring for them, may need to call a doctor or caregiver to receive a new prescription. Some medications are given in pill form, which is typically a small capsule of medication designed to be taken orally or may be a suppository. A pill for the purposes of these descriptions may be a prescription drug, an over-the-counter medication, a vitamin, a nutritional supplement, or any other tablet like object which is designed to be taken by the user.
The status of the prescription needs to be tracked to ensure that the prescription doesn't expire. A doctor's appointment may be necessary to get the prescription renewed (or possibly modified). Depending on the type of insurance, the medication, and/or the pharmacy (e.g., brick-and-mortar, mail order, etc.), the prescription may need to be filled in advance of the time that the medication will be needed.
Many users need to take a variety of different medications. The medications may need to be taken at different times (e.g., days, hours, etc.) and in different quantities. Medication organizers are utilized to assist in tracking the medications that they need to take. The organizers may come in various styles. For example, they may include containers where each container includes the medication that they take for a certain period (e.g., hour, day, etc.).
Certain prescriptions may require the user to monitor and/or measure certain body parameters (e.g., blood sugar) and to bring these parameters to the doctor for review when it is time to renew or modify the prescription. This may require the user to keep detailed records and remember to bring them to the doctor. Some users may have limited mobility so that getting to the pharmacy to get a prescription filled or getting to the doctor to provide the tracked parameters may be a hardship.